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Roadrunner records have teamed up with Sony and Playstation to release this EP of songs from Roadrunner artist, paying tribute to the game.

First up is Killswitch Engage with My Obsession. This is a standard Killswitch song, they’re not breaking new barriers, but it’s still a great song, and if you are a fan, you will definitely love this track. I know a lot of people were disappointed with the last KsE record, and this is them back on top form, it’s much better than most of the tracks on the self titled album.

Next is Trivium with Shattering the Skies Above. On this track the band return to the style of their earlier albums, Ascendancy in particular. At first, I didn’t really like this track, as I wasn’t a big fan of Ascendancy, but after a few plays it really did grow on me. It has a fantastic chorus and the guitars are nice and heavy, with a great solo.

Dream Theater rarely disappoint on record, especially on an instrumental, Raw Dog is no exception. This is a fantastic metal track with great riffs and excellent musicianship, but this is expected from some of the greatest musicians to walk the planet.

This Is Madness by Taking Dawn is an ode to 300, with the lyrics borrowing from lines from the movie: “This is Spartaaaaa!” and such. even though this song has brilliant subject matter, it does sound a little raw compared to the rest of the tracks on this EP, it sounds more like a demo. It is more “metal” than any of the tracks on their album however and is still a great song.

Opeth offer a break from all the heaviness with their track The Throat Of Winter. It’s a more acoustic affair, but it somehow still fits in with the rest of the EP. This is a beautiful track, and a great addition to Opeth’s stunning back catalogue.

The EP ends with The End by Mutiny Within, which is another great track and a superb way to finish a superb EP. This song would fit in perfectly with Mutiny Within’s début album, it has great musicianship and brilliant vocals, plus a chorus to die for.

In all, this is a great EP, the only downside is that its only 30 minutes long!

It looks like Travis Smith is officially out of Trivium. Heres the press release from the bands official website:

“We’re really happy to have our good friend and fellow Floridian Nick Augusto join the Trivium family. Nick’s drumming is very technical and diverse and he brings a real intense energy to the band and we can’t wait for everyone to hear the new song, ‘Shattering the Skies Above,” that we just recorded with Nick. I think it’s the best Trivium recording we’ve ever done; it’s raw, full of energy and I think Nick’s drumming really pushed us to a new level.”

There were rumours of Travis leaving the band a few months ago and now it looks official, however there may still be more to this story, like why Travis has left the band, keep checking back here for more details.

Matt Heafy recently spoke with Metal Hammer about the bands forthcoming song which will be included in a free EP with God Of war 3:

“Right now we’re on the second leg of Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour. The whole of the first leg I was writing and demoing every day so were Corey and Paolo, on this leg we haven’t been doing that as much because we’ve been working on the ‘God Of War III’ song – which is ‘Shattering The Skies Above’. That will come out exclusively on ‘God Of War III’, it will not be on the next Trivium record, but it is going to give people a really good representation of where we’re going with the next record. I’m pretty sure we’ll be playing it in the UK when we’re over, so people will be able to hear where we’re going. That’ll be the only new thing.”

It’s not only Trivium involved with PS3 game God Of War 3, Dream Theater are in on it too, Mike Portnoy said in a recent update:

“In an unexpected move, we will then enter the studio right after New Year’s to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the upcoming ‘God Of War 3’ soundtrack. This will mark the first time in the band’s career we have written and recorded an exclusive track for an outside project. Roadrunner invited us to participate and we decided we were up for the challenge!”